What We Do
Our lab seeks to understand and prevent spillover of zoonotic pathogens from wildlife to other species. We develop the science of pandemic prevention through transdisciplinary leadership, rigorous collaboration, relentless curiosity, and hard work, all with a commitment to translate the science we develop to the public.
To accomplish these goals, our research focuses on four research questions:
How do pathogens cross species barriers to cause a spillover event?
How do environmental stressors, including land-use change and climate change, drive the dynamics of pathogens within reservoir host populations and risk of spillover to other species?
How can we prevent pandemics by preventing spillover?
What is the best way to implement our science for protection of ecosystem, wildlife, and human health?
We translate our scientific findings regarding disease dynamics into the public sphere.
Our goal is to inform meaningful public policy and, hence, more effective public health practices to best reduce or eliminate potentially devastating spillover events.
The hierarchical processes of spillover and some of the data we are collecting to predict spillover (from Plowright and Hudson 2021).
News
Dr. Plowright is the PI of multiple projects on pathogen spillover from bats, including the collaboration Bat One Health. Bat OneHealth, is a global team of experts working across multiple scales to learn the causes of spillover and find sustainable solutions that protect future generations from zoonotic disease.
